HOTLINEVoice of the WYCA&T Branch Seasons Greetings to all UNISON members also this month: A Christmas Carol Health and Safety

Women in World War 1 International News and much much more @UNISONwycat https://wycat.unison.site/

WYCAT Why I joined Branch Secretary Pam Sian Every time a new member joins we ask them to state their rea- Welcome to the December HOTLINE. son for joining. Here’s a state- November saw a national recruitment drive, with the month being renamed Grovember. ment we received from a new The branch held its recruitment day on 21st recruit that we’d like to share November (see page 3) and successfully managed to recruit 7 new members, overall with you... during the month of November the branch recruited 10 new members, regionally over Firstly, I would like to explain something to the Union. 1800 new members have been recruited. Those who recruited a new member have I have never felt a need, or desire to join a Union been entered into the prize draw sponsored in my whole working life. Being a young teenager brought up in a very close knit mining family, and by UNISON’s partners. One lucky winner community, you would think, that the natural will receive £1,000 and four runners up will progression would be for me to join a Union. win £500 each – good luck to those who have been entered into the national prize. However, after the suicide of my Uncle, my Father’s best friend, and witnessing families and As a branch we ask all new members to tell friends torn apart, even to this day, by their us why they joined the movement – see opinions and beliefs, I was blinkered throughout opposite for one new member’s reasons life, of my own opinion being, “what was the point (brought a tear to my eye). of all that”? What did my Father, his friends, my family achieve at the end of it. Totally not Members should also have received the understanding, even in adulthood. AGM calling notices (posted to member’s home addresses). If you have not received Since joining The West Combined your pack please contact me. The AGM is Authority, I have seen the side of a Union that, I feel I had blocked out, due to my blinkered your opportunity to find out more about stubbornness as a child. I have listened to how what the branch has been doing over the being part of a true support network really does past year and to make plans for the coming have major benefits to an employee, and have since, exorcised my biased childhood year. opinions. The one thing that really changed my November also saw the loss of two figures mind, was witnessing other people’s views and of the movement – Cllr Ian Greenwood passions with regards to the new pay OBE and Harry Leslie Smith – see page 6 structure. After having spoken in depth with a member, about the reasoning behind this fight, &7. Our thoughts are with their family and this really gave me food for thought, and the mind friends. set to make the decision. Closely followed up by In closing I would like to wish all members another colleague recommending a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. UNISON. Hence forth, I am quite sure I have eventually made the right decision, and look Whether you celebrate Christmas or not forward to being part of UNISON. take time during the rush of the holidays to enjoy the things in life that really matter.— Sorry if this sounds long winded and a sob story, family and friends. but that is just how it has been. Grovember: Recruitment Day

As part of UNISON’s Grovember Campaign to grow the membership (ge-rrit! Ed.) the branch held a recruitment day on Wednesday 21st November. Running for most of the day those not enlightened enough to already be members had a chance to discuss some of the benefits of being a member such as free legal advice for you or your family, discounted insurance cover and most important of all, someone to be there at your side when you need them.

Seven new members joined on the day and over 1800 new joined in Yorkshire & Humberside over the month.

“This is an encouraging result,” said branch Chair, Andrew Coley, “but we need to be growing the union every month. The more members we have the stronger we are. The stronger we are the easier it is to protect our terms and conditions.”

Come and join us as four ghostly spirits take Scrooge on a journey through his past, present and future in the hope of showing him the error of his ways. Christmas spirit, fun, music and magic is at the heart of this timeless Victorian classic!

Saturday 19th January 2019 2pm at the West Yorkshire Playhouse Leeds Cost to UNISON Members £15 per person and a Bah humbug! £25 for non-members

To reserve tickets call Pam Sian 0113 251 7345 or [email protected] Last date to reserve tickets is Monday 7th January Clocking Changes

Christmas Tips 1. Carefully inspect display novelties out of reach of young

Christmas lights each year hands and discard any with frayed 6. Beware of trailing cables and wires. Falls cords, cracked lamp are the most common accidents so make holders or loose sure you keep clutter to a minimum connections. 7. Have scissors to hand when opening 2. When replacing bulbs packages. Do not be tempted to use a unplug the light string and knife. be sure to match voltage 8. Look out for small items that could pose a and wattage to the original choking hazard to young children e.g. bulb. If lights are old burst balloons, items inside Christmas consider buying new ones, they will meet crackers, button batteries etc. higher safety standards .Make certain that 9. Give yourself enough time to prepare and you turn lights off when leaving the house cook Christmas dinner to avoid hot fat, or retiring for the night. boiling water and sharp knife accidents 3. Remember to buy batteries for toys that that come from rushing. Keep everyone need them – that way you won’t be not helping with cooking out of the kitchen. tempted to remove batteries from smoke Wipe up spills quickly. alarms! 10. Do not drink and drive. Plan long journeys 4. Keep decorations and cards away from so you won’t be tired whilst operating a open fires and heat sources. Never leave vehicle. Always pack supplies when candles unattended and put out before travelling over the festive period in case of going to bed. Never put candles on holiday related traffic delays. Christmas trees 11. Always play safe! Take care of yourself 5. Remember Christmas novelties are not (and loved ones) and enjoy the toys and as such do not have to comply Christmas and New Year festivities! with toy safety regulations. Make sure you

DO YOU HAVE ANY HEALTH & SAFETY CONCERNS? Contact UNISON H&S Officer Bernardine Kelly or Pam Sian in the UNISON office.

https://www.unison.org.uk/get-help/knowledge/health-and-safety/ Councillor Ian Greenwood OBE 1950-2018

It is with deep sorrow that we note the death of Cllr Ian Greenwood OBE. Spurred by the desire to improve the lives of ordinary people, he had joined the Labour Party in the 1970s. It was the beginning of a political career spanning five decades, which saw him becoming regional organiser for the NALGO union, serving on the county and district councils, leading ’s Labour group and achieving national prominence in the public sector pensions industry. Instantly recognisable and larger than life, he knew Bradford like the back of his hand. He served Little Horton, the community from which he came, for 17 years. He had only to walk a few yards there before someone stopped to greet him or ask advice.

A larger than life figure, Cllr Greenwood served West Yorkshire Pension Fund for a period 14 years, both as chair and latterly as deputy chair. He built a national profile in the pensions sector as Chair of the Local Authority Pensions Fund Forum (LAPFF) from 2008 to 2015, and again in 2018, representing funds with a combined value of £230 billion. Cllr Greenwood was also chair of the Northern Pool – the partnership of West Yorkshire, Greater and Merseyside pension funds.

With roots in trade unions, Cllr Greenwood’s career in local politics spanned four decades. Twice leader of Bradford Council (representing Little Horton ward from 1995 to 2012 and Bolton and Undercliffe ward from 2018), he enjoyed a reputation as a quick witted, straight talking Yorkshireman whose word was his bond. He was passionate about Bradford, relentless in pursuing social justice, implacable and resolute in opposing extremism.

Awarded the OBE in 2013 for services to local government, Ian was an extraordinarily devoted public servant both to local government pensions and to his home city of Bradford. He was at the same time influential and pragmatic, seeking always positive change and the best possible result for all those he represented.

His service to WYPF and the whole local authority pensions sector was unstinting and tireless. Ian’s experience and dedication will be very sorely missed.

A private funeral service was held on 30th November, however, a memorial service is to be held in January - details of which will be forwarded to members has soon as they are available. If proof were ever needed that it is never too late to make a major impact, Harry Leslie Smith, surely offers it. He was 91 when his bestselling memoir-cum-polemic in defence of the welfare state, Harry’s Last Stand (2014), was published, winning him a mass following in Britain’s ascendant left and beyond.

Following the book’s publication, he was invited to address that year’s Labour party conference before a speech by the then shadow health secretary, Andy Burnham. His passionate denunciation of benefits cuts and austerity – including the line “Mr Cameron, keep your mitts off my NHS!” – 25 February 1923 – 28 November 2018 made headline news.

Harry became a regular commentator in newspapers, a fixture at speaking events in both Britain and Canada, and a prominent champion of the British Labour party. In the build-up to the 2015 general election, he recorded a party political broadcast for Labour on the NHS, and during the campaign he toured constituencies to drum up support for the party.

After the Tory victory, Harry endorsed for the Labour leadership, declaring it was because he wanted “my grandchildren’s generation to have a fighting chance for a decent and meaningful life free of austerity”.

Harry became one of the biggest social media stars in British politics. Within several years, he had sent more than 80,000 tweets and accrued over quarter of a million followers. His widely shared tweets were on a variety of topics: fighting austerity and privatisation, opposing western military interventions, and challenging racism and fascism. He was increasingly preoccupied with rising xenophobia, as demonstrated by the increasing popularity of Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, and saw disturbing parallels with the rise of interwar fascism.

He campaigned for Remain in the 2016 EU referendum campaign, arguing that it was Tory austerity rather than EU migrants that was responsible for Britain’s social ills. On the eve of the vote, he warned that “the trials and tribulations Britain faces today are as great as the ones my generation faced and overcame more than 70 years ago”.

Drawing on his wartime experiences, he took up the cause of refugees and made visits to the Calais refugee camp. “I have seen camps like the Jungle before – at the end of the war,” he said. “But back then, there was a desire among ordinary citizens and their leaders to alleviate the plight of refugees. Today it is different.”

That Harry became a conscience of the British labour movement later in his life was influenced by his earliest experiences. Born into an impoverished family in , South Yorkshire, when he was three Harry experienced the loss of his elder sister, Marion, who died of tuberculosis in a workhouse. His family were too poor to afford a funeral, and she was buried in an unmarked paupers’ grave. His childhood was marked by hunger and abject squalor.

Forced to move to Bradford and then Halifax because of hardship, his father, Albert, a miner, was severely injured in a mining accident. His mother, Lillian (nee Dean), left her husband for another man, who flew into violent alcohol-fueled rages: he recalled jumping on his back to stop him beating her.

Harry worked as a barrow boy to help feed his family. By the outbreak of the Second World War, he was the 16-year-old manager of a Halifax grocery store. In 1941, he signed up to the Royal Air Force as a wireless operator, and joined British armed forces as they crossed into Belgium, the Netherlands, and finally Germany. Seeing the ruins of was a salutary experience: “the stench of death was just unbelievable,” he recalled.

It was in occupied Hamburg that he met his wife, Friede (nee Edelmann), while she was bartering for food. British soldiers were forbidden from going out in public or cohabiting with German women: he would walk 50 paces behind her to avoid being stopped by military police. Although the House of Lords repealed a law banning marriage with citizens of former hostile states in 1946, the stigma and obstacles remained, and it took more than a year before they were married in a German church. Continues on page 14

Women in the Great War Dorothy Lawrence

There is some discrepancy about her birth and some info has her listed as being born in Middlesex, while other info states she was born Tommie Girls WW1 in Warwickshire. Dorothy wished to be a journalist and she had some articles published in Many young British women left home to help The Times but when war broke out she wanted with the war effort. They became ambulance to be a war reporter. In 1915 she travelled to drivers, worked in the trenches and fought on France and applied to be a volunteer in the the front line. The women were mainly middle Voluntary Aid Detachment but she was rejected. to upper class, wealthy and very well educated. She decided to enter the war zone as a They had the freedom to leave their families. freelance journalist but was arrested two miles They usually joined the war effort by becoming from the front line by the French police. She then nurses. The war also offered the opportunity to returned to Paris and befriended two soldiers female doctors who were finding it hard to get who smuggled her items of a uniform until she had the full set. She then set about transforming work in Britain to be able to practise their skills. st Some women were already members of the herself in to Private Denis Smith of the 1 Bn Voluntary Aid Detachment. This group was a Leicestershire Regiment and headed for the bit like the Girl Guides and had started before front line. She is thought to have worked within the war. the trenches. After ten days of service she In 1917 the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps became ill and afraid that the men who had (WAAC) was set up. These women worked as helped her would be in trouble so she handed secretaries, telephonists, cooks and code herself over to the commanding sergeant who breakers. placed her under military arrest. In 1919 she moved to Islington and published an account of her experiences. In 1925 her behaviour became Flora Sandes erratic and she was taken in to care and deemed

nd insane. She died in 1964 in what was then Flora was born on the 22 January 1876 in known as Friern Hospital in Barnet, North Nether Poppleton, Yorkshire to an Irish family London. and became the only British woman to serve as a soldier in WW1. She was a St John ambulance volunteer who then enlisted in the Serbian army and took a position in the rearguard of the Iron Regiment as they retreated from the Bulgarian advance. She rose through the ranks and was promoted to Sergeant Major and after the war became a Captain. She was decorated with seven medals. In 1916 she published her autobiography and In May 1927 she married Yuri Yudenitch a fellow officer. The couple lived in France and then returned to Serbia and settled in Belgrade. She is known to have driven Belgrade’s first taxi cab. In 1927 she published a second autobiography. Throughout her life she travelled and gave lectures on her wartime experiences, always wearing her army uniform. She spent the last years of her life in England in Suffolk and died on the 24th Nov 1956. In 2009 a street in Belgrade was named after her.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11003124/WW1-centenary- How-female-Tommies-and-sexism-helped-save-Britain.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_Sandes INTERNATIONAL Leading trade unionists released In the early hours of Monday 26th November a Stating that as a trade union UNISON remain number of leading trade unionists in several deeply concerned about the rapid erosion of cities across Turkey were arrested. We democracy, human rights and the rule of law in understand that the arrests were linked to Turkey over recent years Dave requested that legitimate and legal meetings and protests the UK government use its good offices to which took place in 2016. demand an end to the systematic repression of those who speak out in criticism of the Amongst those arrested was Gönül Erden, government of Turkey and its policies. co-chair of the SES healthcare union and Yilmaz Yildirimci, general secretary and Yusuf On Wednesday 28th November we got the good Güler, chair of the supervisory board on the news that Gönül Erden and other arrested TUM BEL –SES municipal services trade union, trade union leaders from KESK have just as well as representatives of the HDP. been released under judicial control In June 2018, Gönül Erden visited the UK as conditions. Our union and our whole one of the international guests to the UNISON’s movement stands with her and all of our trade National Delegates Conference. unionist comrades in Turkey.

Understandable UNISON was concerned for Attacks on trade unionists must be resisted her welfare, promoting General Secretary Dave everywhere. Prentis to write to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Jeremy Hunt MP, requesting him to urge the government of Turkey to immediately release the trade unionists in the absence of any clear charges against them.

Furthermore Dave asked on Jeremy Hunt to call on the government of Turkey to fully respect the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of organisation, laid down in Turkish, European and International law.

Gönül Erden of SES healthcare Union Workers’ and Human rights in Turkey INTERNATIONAL

The denial of workers’ and human rights in A government appointed State of Emergency Turkey is nothing new, but the situation has Appeals Commission has only considered a become significantly worse since the fraction of the appeals submitted. The government imposed a state of emergency in Commission has been highly criticised for its July 2016. lack of independence, impartiality, transparency and inability to deal with the In little over two years President Erdog ˇ an volume of cases. and the government of Turkey have used a series of draconian presidential decrees to Since the imposition of the State of suppress the rights of any perceived Emergency, Turkey has experienced a rapid opponents, including trade unionists, public erosion of democracy at a local and national service workers, human rights defenders, level. By the end of 2017 the government had journalists, the judiciary, politicians and imprisoned 87 mayors and dismissed others academics. for alleged terrorism related offences, replacing them with government appointed As a result, democracy, human and workers’ trustees. Many opposition MPs have also rights and the rule of law have been severely been imprisoned. A controversial referendum diminished, and continue to be eroded, in 2017 narrowly approved major changes to despite the official end of the state of the constitution, significantly increasing the emergency in July. powers of the president to appoint ministers, senior officials and judges and rule by decree, UNISON is working in solidarity with whilst diminishing the authority of parliament progressive trade unions in Turkey to address to hold the government to account. Both the the denial of human and workers’ rights by referendum and the 2018 snap election, also campaigning, providing direct support and held under the state of emergency, were calling on the UK government to respond to heavily criticised for being weighted in favour the situation. of the ruling party through limits on freedoms of assembly and expression, unfair media Summary coverage, misuse of state resources, Trade union rights are severely restricted, intimidation and harassment by security despite protections in the constitution and forces, a lack of transparency and a failure to international law. Workers are routinely denied comply with legally prescribed processes. the right to strike, although Turkey has signed ILO convention 87, Freedom of Association Freedom of expression has been severely and Protection for the Right to Organise. The limited under the State of Emergency, despite right to freedom of assembly is also extremely protections under international law. Turkey limited, with rallies and demonstrations has become the biggest jailer of journalists in regularly banned and protestors subjected to the world, with over 300 arrested and detained a disproportionate police response. by the end of 2017. Over 100,000 websites were reported blocked in 2017 and many who During the state of emergency, at least criticise the government on social media have 152,000 public service workers were been arrested and investigated for alleged dismissed or suspended with little or no right terrorism related offences. of appeal. Most were dismissed without knowing the evidence against them, for having Take action an alleged “link or connection with terrorist Write to your local MP and the Foreign and organisations”. Additional sanctions such as a Commonwealth Office, using the template permanent ban on working in the public letters available on the UNISON website sector, loss of pension or eviction from Affiliate to Solidarity with the People of Turkey publically owned homes, have also been Support the ITUC/ETUC solidarity fund for imposed on many dismissed workers. Turkish trade unions. Progressive trade unions including DISK and KESK have been particularly affected by the dismissals.

Dave Prentis writes to Turkish ambassador over the murder of trade union leader

General secretary Dave Prentis has called for “a thorough and urgent investigation” into the murder of Turkish trade union leader Abdullah Karacan, and the shooting of two of his colleagues on 15th November.

Mr Karacan, president of the rubber and chemical workers’ union DISK/Lastik-İş, was killed while meeting workers at the Goodyear tyre factory in Adaparzari Turkey. His colleagues, regional president Mustafa Sipahi, and shop steward Osman Bayraktar, were also shot and injured.

In a letter to the Turkish ambassador in London, Mr Prentis called for everyone involved in the shooting to be brought to justice.

He also demanded that the Turkish government make sure trade unionists are free to defend workers without fear.

He also wrote to Arzu Cerkezoglu, general secretary of DISK, to offer her “our deepest condolences and solidarity.”

He added: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Abdullah Karacan, the workers who were affected by this devastating crime, and our comrades in Lastik-İş and DISK, at this difficult time.”

Did you know …..

UNISON has it’s own International Team? UNISON works with individual unions and global union federations to defend public services and fight against austerity around the world. We also have a responsibility to defend human and trade union rights wherever they are under attack.

One of the Unions current campaigns is to promote awareness and support for a globally binding treaty that the UN Humman Rights Working group is currently looking at. This would hold all mulit national companies to account over any human rights abuse they may carry out. Details of this and other international .

You can either follow the link below for more information or follow the Branch on at @UNISONwycat or visit the Branch website at https://wycat.unison.site/

https://www.unison.org.uk/about/what-we-do/working-internationally/ Historic visit by Cuban President

The Cuba Solidarity Campaign is proud to have blockade has on Cuba’s development and ability to worked with the Cuban Embassy to support this trade. “Every time we make progress, then the historic visit by the Cuban president to Britain. We blockade comes in with its extraterritorial tentacles. hope it will foster increased understanding, And one may wonder - how it is possible that we let exchanges and trade between our two islands, another country make decisions on our behalf? especially at a time when the United States is “It’s not just about the United States wanting to tightening its blockade of Cuba and trying to isolate impose a blockade on Cuba, but the United States the island from the international community.” also wants the rest of the world to follow their lead and blockade Cuba as well. Miguel Díaz-Canel, President of the Republic of Cuba, arrived in London on 12 November on a “And the blockade has been tightened under the transit visit, following his first tour of European and Trump administration - financial persecution against Asian countries. Cuba has been intensified. During this historic visit – the first by a Cuban President to Britain since the Revolution – the “This is a struggle that we have to face together,” he president was accompanied by a delegation of said. “The British government has expressed that it ministers from the Council of State including Deputy does not support the blockade”.

President Ricardo Cabrisas, Foreign Minister Bruno Speaking at a solidarity reception hosted by the Rodríguez, and Deputy Foreign Minister Rogelio Cuban Ambassador HE Teresita Vicente and the Sierra.

During his brief stay he had a packed schedule holding meetings with Phillip Hammond MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, members of the British business community involved in the Cuba Initiative, the Caribbean Council, and a meeting in the House of Lords with peers representing arts and culture. Additionally, the Deputy President, Ricardo Cabrisas, held a meeting with Dr Liam Fox MP, Secretary of State for International Trade. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel is greeted at On Tuesday 13 November, the president and the airport by Cuban Ambassador HE Teresita members of the delegation attended a welcome Vicente reception in the House of Lords, jointly hosted by Baroness Angela Smith and the Cuba Cuba Solidarity Campaign, President Díaz-Canel Solidarity Campaign. Many members of parliament promised representatives of the solidarity attended including Karen Lee MP, Chair of the movement, trade union leaders, MPs and Cubans APPG on Cuba, and Mark Menzies MP, Chair of the resident in the UK that Cuba would: “uphold and APPG on Latin America and leader of the recent remain committed to that legacy of respect, IPU delegation to the island. friendship, and affection. I only ask something that

we will share among us in spite of the adversities, in Addressing the meeting, the Cuban President said spite of pressures, in spite of anyone’s wishes to the was struck by the warmth of his welcome: “that oppose and interfere. Among all of us, united and in a place that is so far away form Cuba, we can find together, we shall overcome all obstacles, so much warmth affection and love, that it seems interference, and stumbling blocks and the triumph like we have know each other for a very long time. will be the best of us that will emerge from all of us And for that I want to thank you very much.” He together, which is friendship, solidarity and described the trip as being “very significant” for cooperation.” Cuba. Originally the trip was supposed to be just a The President thanked CSC Director Rob Miller, the transit stop over, but the British government had Cuba Solidarity Campaign and the British trade made it possible to have high level meetings union movement for its campaigning on the possible. blockade and the freedom of the Miami Five over The President spoke of the huge impact that the many years. UNISON’s LGBT conference took place at the Harrogate M e m b e r s Conference Centre between the 16th and 18th November. Guest speakers included President Gordon McKay, Assistant General Secretary Christine McAnea and Alison Low , Inclusion Officer for the Leeds based mental health charity Touchstone. Alison reported that a disproportionate number of the LGBT community suffer from mental health illnesses with a reported 48% of trans people have considered or attempted suicide.

The conference debated of 50 motions on a diverse range of subjects including the plight of Palestine, the anti-Tran’s campaigners and the specific problems faced by bisexual people.

The motions chosen to go to National Delegates Conference in the Summer are around the wishes of the LGBT SOG’s to change the name of the group to LGBT+. This is the capture the growing members of the community not covered by Lesbian, Gay Bi & Tran’s. These include Non-binary and a-sexual members.

On Saturday trade deals with USA and the dangers this had 1st December for a NHS – left vulnerable to the large and Labour Link powerful medical industry. members met However, one of the topics he addressed was at Wortley Hall that of devolution in Yorkshire. He is very much – just outside a fan of the one Yorkshire deal, saying Barnsley – for Yorkshire needed devolution because it needs a their annual national voice. Growth in Yorkshire has been Policy Seminar. This year much of the talk was less than 1% while in London its 3%. In the of BREXIT, how it might or might not be devolved regions of Scotland and Wales Local implemented and the effects it may have on the Authorities have one third more to spend than in region and country as a whole. Yorkshire.

The seminar was addressed first by MEP Linda Labour Link promotes UNISON’s policies and McAvan. Working in Europe, she said, was an the interests of public service workers users opportunity, to quote Burns – ‘To see ourselves within the Labour Party. Through its affiliation as others see us’. Her European colleagues to the Labour Party, at national, regional and realised that many of the problems leading up to local level UNISON Labour Link speaks for BREXIT and the vote itself were caused by approximately 470,000 UNISON members who internal strife within the Tory party. One of the pay the affiliated fund contribution as part of main problems as she saw it was the Northern their membership subscription. Irish question in which an open border with Eire is unacceptable to the EU outside the Customs Union, but the Customs Union which is a red- line for the Tories! If May agrees to stay in it she will split the Tory Party.

Ultimately Linda feels in the future BREXIT will be seen as a massive waste of time.

John Grogan MP for Keighley also addressed the seminar, he too spoke about BREXIT – John Grogan MP for Keighley saying he was concerned about independent Continued from page 7… As millions of soldiers waited to be demobilised, Harry recalled jubilation – “dancing and drinking” – when Clement Attlee’s Labour party won a landslide victory in 1945, with his comrades inspired by commitments to create a and build decent, affordable housing. After his service ended in 1948, Harry returned to Yorkshire. However, postwar Britain was not an easy place for him and his German wife to settle in, and so in 1953 they emigrated to Canada, settling in Toronto, and later Harwood, Ontario. He worked for an oriental rug company, selling and helping to design rugs, and Friede became a shipping clerk.

After Friede died of cancer in 1999, Harry backpacked around Europe, visiting places he had known during the war. His youngest son, Peter, who had schizophrenia, died of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis a decade later. Harry began writing, and self-published his first four books, all memoirs, one of which was republished as Love Among the Ruins in 2015, but it was Harry’s Last Stand that won him his devoted following.

For the last 20 years, Harry divided his time between the UK and Canada. After he was taken ill following a fall in Canada, there was an outpouring of support and solidarity on social media on both sides of the Atlantic.

Disabled Members Disability Rights UK is a charity run by and for people with lived experience of disability or health conditions. Their mission: We are disabled people leading change

In 3 years we will enable at least 50,000 diverse disabled people to have voice and influence, connecting with each other and with us. We support change agents and enable dis-abled people to exert power and influence. We will work in partnership with other Disabled People’s Or-ganisations (DPOs) to showcase approaches to social, eco-nomic and public participation and share learning, including through joint projects. Disability Rights UK is a fountain of knowledge for disabled issues and has many factsheets and information that can be utilised by disabled members. For further information visit https:// www.disabilityrightsuk.org/ Make the best use of your Rep’s

Remember UNISON Rep’s are there to help and assist you. If you’ve been called in for a Welfare Meeting or Investigation we can be there at your side. If you want advice on employment issues or help with anything from uniform grants for the kids or confidence building for yourself—your Rep’s might be able to help! Branch Rep’s

Andrew Coley ext 450/221 Sharron Haigh Pam Sian ext 345 Darren Jones Heather Briggs ext 1809 Bernadine Kelly ext 324 Sean Coneron Oya Ozmemis ext 1727 Javid Daji ext 266 David Dunwell Graham Ramsden (CRT) Wendy Dunwell ext 338 Caroline Pintar ext 1744 Steve Freeman Terry Sigsworth (CRT) Andrew Goring Joanna Walsh ext 248 Please note some stewards do not have office extensions. All CA officers and stewards can be contacted by e-mail: [email protected] Or CRT officers and stewards [email protected] Please note: These Prizes are merely an illustration of possible prizes that could be won and don’t represent the actual prizes to be won, but we will have some really nice prizes for the winners, honest! Anyway it’s the taking part that counts. For more information contact Wendy Dunwell or Pam Sian

https://www.unison.org.uk/get-help/services-support/there-for-you/ West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Transport Branch

For application forms or more information Contact Pam Sian on 0113 2517345 [email protected] or [email protected] Remember, recommend a new member and get £20